Probe into Royal Mint payments

INVESTIGATORS are probing financial controls at the Royal Mint after a number of 'potentially improper payments' by the 1,000 year-old coin producer were uncovered.

The Treasury said the payments took place between 1996 and 1999. It gave no further details although one government official said the payments numbered a 'handful' and concerned relatively small sums of money.

The payments were uncovered by an internal Royal Mint investigation which was submitted to the Treasury on 25 June. The Serious Fraud Office has also been informed, the Treasury said.

The Royal Mint, whose origins lie in the scattered workshops of Anglo-Saxon London, now operates a modern plant in South Wales which can produce 10,000 coins a minute. Its reputation for fine coins means it produces for more than 100 countries.